Gulf States Plan Clinical 'Tests' to Keep Out Homosexuals

Kuwait has designed what it terms a medical test to prevent homosexuals from entering that nation and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the Daily Mail reported.

While the six GCC nations — Kuwait, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar — already ban homosexual acts, the test represents a strengthening of this stance, a Kuwaiti official said.

Yousouf Mindkar, director of public health at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai that health centers routinely conduct medical checks to determine the health status of expatriates who come to GCC countries.

Mindkar added that Kuwait “will take stricter measures” in order to “detect gays who will then be barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.” Mindkar’s comments to Al-Rai were reported in the Daily Mail.

The Kuwait Times quoted Mindkar as stating that homosexuals and “third sex” (transgender) people “can be detected through clinical tests during the routine medical examination for visa.”

Mindkar’s remarks did not specify the test that would be conducted or how medical examiners would determine and individual’s sexual orientation, the Times reported. The paper said the new proposal would be discussed during a GCC meeting on expatriate labor forces scheduled for Nov. 11 in Oman.

In Kuwait, persons under 21 can receive up to 10 years in jail for committing homosexual acts, according to the Daily Mail. In Saudi, Arabia, where homosexuals can be executed, the government often uses lesser penalties including prison sentences and whipping to enforce its ban on gay activity.